In Luke's Gospel, chapter 8,
I want to read the account of the Lord
Jesus crossing the Sea of Galilee with His disciples. You'll find
this account in Luke, chapter 8, and you'll find it in Matthew,
chapter 8, and in Mark, chapter 4. But here in Luke, chapter
8, Now, it came to pass on a certain
day that he went into a ship with his disciples, and he said
unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And
they launched forth. And as they sailed, he fell asleep. And there came down a storm of
wind on the lake, and they were filled with water, and were in
jeopardy. And they came to him, and awoke
him, saying, Master, Master, we perish. Then he arose and
rebuked the wind and the raging of the sea, and they ceased,
and there was a calm. And he said unto them, Where
is your faith? And they, being afraid, wondered,
saying one to another, What manner of man is this? For he commands
even the winds and water, and they obey him." Now, our text
today is found there in verse 25. Where is your faith? Where is your faith? I want us
to look at this question, and mainly it is in a way of examining
ourselves this morning. your faith. What a fix these
apostles have got themselves into. And I sympathize with them. I really do. I mean, these were
experienced fishermen. But they had never been on this
lake in the situation that they were in this afternoon or this
night. And one of the reasons I think
you and I can sympathize with them is because this lake It's
not by any means the largest lake in the world. They tell
us it's 13 miles long and 18 miles wide, and it's generally
about 825 foot deep. And can you imagine being out
on this lake, probably out somewhere towards the middle, and the Scripture
says here, a great storm of wind came down on the sea. And they said they were in jeopardy. Their minds were filled with
fear. They were distraught. They were
exceedingly afraid. Mark tells us that the waves
beat against the ship, and Matthew tells us that the waves covered
the ship. Not only beat against the ship,
but the waves were actually, some of them, going over the
ship. And Luke tells us here in his account that the waters
filled the ship and they were in jeopardy. And I think you
can almost get the sense of what they felt when they come to the
Lord and said, and I wonder if they said it or cried it, Master,
Master, we perish. And the Lord Jesus said, I think
it's in Mark's account, why are you fearful? Why are you so full
of fear? Where is your faith? Where is your faith? The Lord Jesus is recorded by
another account of saying, Peace be still. Why are you fearful,
O you of little faith? And I notice as You look at all
three of these accounts. This was amazing when I saw this
last week. I don't know why this was amazing
to me, but do you notice here that the Lord Jesus is recorded
in Luke's account of speaking only one time. And Matthew and
Mark has him speaking only twice. when he said, Peace be still,
and then he rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith when
he said, Where is your faith? The Lord doesn't have to speak
much, does he? He doesn't have to speak much. When he speaks,
though, when he speaks, I tell you, things happen. Things happen. I want you to consider with me
this morning this question, Where is your faith? And first of all,
I want to read it like this. I want to read it like this.
Produce your faith. We could read it like that. Produce
your faith. I want to see your faith. We can read it like that. If
you've ever traveled, if you've ever flown on an airplane, you
know that when you get to the airport, one of the first things
they will ask you is for ID. We need to see some identification. If a policeman stops you out
on the road, especially if you're speeding, the first thing he
wants to do is check your ID. Produce some ID. Now, why do
we have to produce our ID? We have to prove who we are,
don't we? I know that my name is Bruce Crabtree, and most of
you know that my name is Bruce Crabtree. But on occasions, I
have to prove to other people who I am. And when I do that,
they tell me, I need to see your ID. You need to prove to me who
you are. And this is what the Lord Jesus
is saying to his apostles. These men have professed to be
believers. Have they not? They had said,
we believe and are sure that you are the Christ, the Son of
the living God. We're men of faith. Well, here's
the checkpoint, as it were. If you're the master, he says,
I want to see some ID. I want some proof that you are
who you say you are. Where is your faith? See why the question is asking?
Produce your faith. Why did the Lord Jesus require
this? Well, there was some evidence
that these men weren't who they said they were. They professed
to be men of faith, but their actions had proved otherwise. The scripture says they were
fearful. They were tormented. They were
convinced that they were ready to perish even though the Lord
Jesus Christ was in the ship with them all along. And their
attitude manifested not that they were men of faith at all,
or that they had any faith. Brothers and sisters, is having
a mind full of torment and fear, is that the fruit of faith? Or
is that the fruit of unbelief? So the master stops him and he
says, you men of faith, Peter, show me your faith. Prove to
me that you are indeed who you say you are. There are times
and there are situations when this question needs to be asked. And one time is when our hearts
are filled with turmoil, when we've lost the sense of peace
with God, we need to ask this question. Being justified by
faith, we have peace with God. My peace I leave with you. My
peace I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled. And yet, if our hearts are filled
with trouble, what needs to be asked? Where is your faith? Or somebody might say, I don't
have peace with God. Well, let me ask you this question.
Have you ever had peace with God? I mean, have you had real peace
with God? Has it been a well-founded peace? Is this peace through the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ, who made peace upon Calvary's tree? Have you truly, in the past,
had peace with God. You say, Bruce, I have. I believe
I have in the past well-founded peace. Then what's happened to
that sense of peace? You say this, well, I've got
into this severe trial, and it's got me down, and my mind is filled
with trauma. Well, I ask you this question.
Is it a worse trial than these apostles face? I doubt it. Are you at the point
where you're in jeopardy that you're ready to perish? I doubt
it. I doubt it seriously. But let's
suppose that you've fallen in to this darkness, to this awful
fear and trembling in your conscience. Yet, if you have had peace with
God in the past, and you've lost that sense of peace, then the
Lord Jesus may well say to you what He said to these apostles.
Where is your faith? If these, in the awful situation
that they found themselves in, had no excuse for losing their
peace and their confidence, then you and I have no excuse for
losing it either. And you know the only reason
we do? We're not who we say we are at this time. Now, ain't
that so? Ain't that so? The Scripture
says faith is our victory, and that faith overcomes the world. And if you and I have ceased
to be victorious, and some may not like that word, but I don't
know what else to use. If we're constantly being overcome
by this world, then here's the question that you and I must
be asked. Where is your faith? So it's given here as a way of
examination. Where is your faith? The peace of God is the product
of faith, is it not? Being justified by faith, we
have peace with God? I have peace with God. Do you
have peace with God this morning? Is your conscience at peace with
God? Or is your conscience living
in conflict and guilt? Do you fear life? Do you fear
death? Do you fear facing God? Or do
you have peace with God? Dear soul, if you're here this
morning and you've got a deep, settled peace in your heart that
the Holy Spirit has put there, and it's a well-founded peace
through the blood of the cross, then I'm telling you, you've
just produced your faith. You've just shown me your faith
by the peace of God that's in your heart. But I've talked to
people who's never had peace, and there's something wrong.
There's something wrong. In our deepest trial, dear brothers
and sisters, and I sympathize if you're here this morning and
you're in a deep trial, I sympathize. But yet, in a deep trial, we
are inexcusable if we lose the sense of peace with God. And the only reason we do is
because of the weakness of our faith. Where is your faith? Secondly, this question is to
be asked of us when our love for the Savior has grown cold. I have somewhat against you,
the Master said, because you've left your first love. You know, faith works by love. And when the Lord Jesus said
to Peter, Peter, do you love me? You know, he could have said,
Peter, do you believe in me? But he has another way of checking
the strength of a man's faith. And here's a good way to check
the strength of a man's faith. Do you love me? Love and faith
go hand in hand, do they not? And one is no stronger than the
other. If our love has grown cold towards
the Savior and we've left our first love, then our faith is
weak. And we need to ask ourselves
this question. Where is your faith? Where is your faith? If your
faith is strong this morning, then your love for Christ is
strong. If your faith is weak this morning, it may be your
love for Christ has grown cold. You've left your sweetheart love
for the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you this morning sincerely
and honestly love the Lord of glory? Do you love Him? Can you say that in your soul
and have God to bear witness to it? Can you say with David,
I love the Lord? I love Him because... I love
Him because of what He's did for me. I love Him because of
who He is. I saw something of His redeeming
glory. I love Him. Can you say that this morning?
Then you've just produced your faith. Because you can't love
Him if you don't believe in Him. But if you're here this morning,
dear soul, and if you don't sincerely love the Lord Jesus Christ, then
you know something? You have no faith. You have no
faith to produce. You may have the Lord Himself
here or yonder to judgment. Show me your faith, and you'll
search for it. But you won't find any idea.
You cannot produce it. If we don't love the Master,
then we don't believe the Master. But if you love it, you know
what? You've just produced your faith.
Show me, show me your faith. This question can also be asked
when we've become slothful in maintaining good works. Where is your faith? The Apostle James had a habit
of asking this to those who professed to believe in God. He went around
asking people this. Show me your faith. He got this
from the Master, didn't he? Show me your faith. James went
around asking people who believed in God, show me your faith. Why,
dear James, dear brother, you know faith is of the heart. You
know it can't be seen. I can't show you my faith. What
was James' answer to him? He said, I can show you mine.
You show me your faith without your works, and I'll show you
my faith. How are you going to do that?
Was he bragging? Why not at all, was he? He was
a very humble man, James was. But he was telling us how we
can produce faith. It shows itself by its works. You remember when Abraham left
his father's house and everything he had and done in the area of
the Chaldees and came out into the land of promise. Do you remember
when he took his only son and went up with him on the mount
and took the knife and was going to stab him to death? You know
that proved his faith. That showed his faith. When Rahab
the harlot hid those two spies from Israel and disobeyed the
king's commandment, you know she just produced her faith.
And when Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
And he left all the pleasures and riches of Egypt and went
out into the desert to suffer afflictions with the children
of God. You know he showed his faith. And when James and John
and Peter left their father and left their nest to follow Jesus,
they showed their faith. We show our faith by our works. And if faith, if it's true faith,
if it's saving faith, I tell you how he'll show himself, in
obedience to God. It'll do it. If a man don't have
true faith, he'll be like Pharaoh, who's the Lord that I should
obey him. You ask Pharaoh to produce his
faith, he's got none. And children who live in disobedience
to their parents, Wives who live in disobedience to their husband,
and men who live in disobedience to the Lord Jesus Christ and
His gospel, they don't have faith. They don't have faith. And if
we've got to the point where we've grown slothful in our works,
we've grown careless, we're not maintaining good works, then
here's the question that confronts you and confronts me this morning.
Where is your faith? Where is your faith? You profess
to know God, but in works deny Him, being disobedient. James confronted the people in
his day. You and I confront people in
our day. Where is your faith? Where is
your faith? It is evident by our works. And quickly, this one. When we're
not seeking the glory of God in everything. When we're not
seeking the glory of God in everything. Isn't this an awakening statement? Where's your faith? And aren't
we all guilty of this? Don't we all go through life
and so often, so often we find ourselves going in our own way? We don't seek God for directions
in everything. And we don't say, would this
be for His glory? What is my motives in doing what
I'm doing? Is it just to be seen? Is it
to have a title? Is it for people to glory over
me? Am I doing everything I'm doing for the glory of God? You know how faith shows itself?
It was said of Abraham. Here is what was said of Abraham.
He was strong in faith, giving glory to God. And when you and I, so often
as we do, fail to examine ourselves and seek His glory in everything,
then this question comes home to you and me. Where is your
faith? Where is your faith? Well, I
tell you, when Abraham was called of the Lord, nothing was too
costly for him to give. Do you know that? Offer up your
only son? Why did he do that? It was for
God's glory. Nothing was too valued to give
up if it was for God's glory. Nothing was too hazardous to
adventure if it was for God's glory. I'll go into a strange
land with Sarah, my wife, and I'll wait for the fulfilling
of the promise because it's for your glory. That's faith. Show me your faith. Abraham counted his own body
now dead. He gave up self-trust. Why? For the glory of God. Whatever your word commands me
to do, I'll do it for your glory. And when we fail to do this,
then the Lord comes to us with this searching question, where
is your faith? And fifthly, here's something
else. Fifthly and lastly on this point,
is our hearts being purified from sin? is our hearts being
purified from sin. We'll never be free from sin.
We'll never be free from its presence as long as we're in
this world. We'll never be free from a sense
of its working inside of us. But let me ask us this question.
Are we getting more and more sick of it? Do we feel more and
more the corruptions of it? Is it my greatest burden? Do
I hate my sin and do I abhor myself because of it? Can I say
with joy, I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes? Is that fountain that's been
open for sin and uncleanness growing more and more precious
to me as I learn more and more about my sin? Is this old nature
becoming more and more a body of death? Do we long for deliverance
from it? Do we say with Paul, Who shall
deliver me from the body of this death? Do you know what the scripture says
about faith in Acts chapter 15 verse 9? Peter said, God put
no difference between the Jew and the Gentile, purifying their
hearts by faith. Faith is a wonderful thing. If
you have it, you want to be pure. You want to be free from sin. And it's working. And you say,
come Lord Jesus, deliver me from the body of this death. If you
and I, brothers and sisters, have reached the point and the
place that we can sin as easily as we can breathe, if we have
opened the gate to entertain sinful thoughts and we cease
to examine our motives and we cease to set a watch upon our
tongue, And we stand in the way of sinners and we sit in the
seat of the scornful, this question may be asked us this morning.
And I hope that it comes to us with as much searching as I'm
sure it did to these disciples on this Sea of Galilee. Where
is your faith? Where is your faith that purifies
the heart? Can you produce it? You say you
have it. Then how do you feel about your
sin? And how do you feel about yourself?
Faith purifies the heart. So firstly, I want us to look
at this as we just have. Produce your faith. If you are
men of faith, then produce it. And it will be seen in its effect. But secondly, I want to look
at this in this way this morning. Where is your faith? Who is your
faith in? What is the object? Who is the
object of your faith? Where is your faith? Is it in
Christ? When the Lord Jesus asked them
that, is your faith in me? These disciples' knowledge of
Christ was very weak. Their knowledge was very weak.
They had gifts that you and I will never have. But I tell you, we've
got knowledge that they didn't have at this time. If they lived
in our day, you know something, they wouldn't be Christians.
They wouldn't be Christians if they lived in our day. They were
Christians there at this time. But you know one day when the
Lord Jesus told Peter and the apostles, I'm going up to Jerusalem,
they're going to betray me? And they're going to whip me,
deny me, and hang me on a cross, and I'm going to raise the third
one. Remember what Peter said? Lord, that'll never happen to
you. What? Peter didn't understand that.
He didn't. He didn't understand that. He knew that Jesus was
the Christ, the Son of the living God. And that was wonderful,
and that was saving for him in their day. And their hearts were
later to be opened. But you know something? They didn't understand Jesus
Christ much, so much about him. They didn't understand his nature.
They didn't understand his characteristics. They just didn't. In Mark's account
of this, here's what Mark says. When they went to the Lord Jesus
to wake him up, here's what they said about him. This is why he
asked them, is your faith in me? Is your faith in me? They went to him and they said,
Lord, Don't you care that we perish? Don't you care that we
perish? Isn't that an awful accusation?
Isn't that judging the dear Savior so harshly? Don't you care? It sounded like the Israelites,
when they got out in the middle of the wilderness, said, He's
brought us out here to kill us. That's what they were saying.
Don't you care? Have you brought us out here
to kill us? To drown us? Don't you care? No wonder they
were afraid. If I thought the dear Savior
didn't care about me and the situation I was in, wouldn't
you be afraid? I'd be afraid too. No wonder
Peter said grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord and Savior. He looked back on his life and
realized There was a time when he didn't have the clear knowledge
of the Lord Jesus that he should have. Brothers and sisters, I don't
know about you. Yes, I do know about you. You're just like I
am. You can't face life with all of its trials and all of
its disappointments and heartache if you don't believe that the
blessed Savior cares for you. Does Jesus care? I know He cares. And if I'm convinced of otherwise,
then I can't make it through this life. I can't go through
this life with the way I feel about myself and all my weaknesses
and infirmities, and I keep fellowship with you with all your weaknesses
and infirmities if I could be convinced that Jesus Christ cannot
be touched with a feeling of this infirmity. Does Jesus care? Oh, where was their faith? Who
was their faith in? How little they knew of the Lord
Jesus to bring such a charge against Him. Do you not care? Oh, He was so meek and lowly. He had already told them, I will
never break a bruised reed. I'll never quit smoking flax. I am meek and lowly in my heart."
That's what he said. Tears shall not that we perish? It wasn't long after this that
he hung on a cross to keep them from perishing, and yet they
judge him so harshly. Don't you care? And that's why
the Lord Jesus asked him, is your faith in me? Your knowledge
of me is so weak. You don't know me. You don't
know me. Oh, you say, Bruce, I've come
into this stormy waters and I'm fearful. My circumstances have
changed for the worse, and I fear I'll not make it at last. You
ever been there? Oh, I've been there. Your pastor's
been there, bud. I've been in some deep waters
where I didn't think I was going to get out of. I've been through
some long valleys I didn't think I was going to ever end. I've
been up some hill difficulties I didn't think I'd ever see the
top of. Haven't you been there? when our circumstances suddenly
changes and our world has been turned upside down. And then
we're apt to judge of the dear Master. Then because our circumstances
has changed for the worse, then He has too. Did He care for these disciples
yesterday? You read the context sometime
of Matthew's account of this. They brought multitudes. He went
into Peter's house. Peter said, Lord, my mother-in-law
is sick of a fever. He went in there and touched
her hand and raised her up. They brought many multitudes
to him that was possessed with devils and sick, and he healed
them all that it might be fulfilled. He himself, bar our infirmities. and bore our sicknesses. That's
what was said just before he left the coast going across this
sea. And here his disciples said,
Lord, they had to really mean, they had to really mean, have
you ceased to care? We know you cared yesterday.
Have you quit caring now? We know you love this history.
Don't you love us now? Oh, how harsh, how harsh. I tell you what, brothers and
sisters, the more I learn of that old free will doctrine,
that Christ can love a man today and cease to love him tomorrow,
the more I despise it. Oh, the Lord Jesus loved me yesterday,
but I've got in this awful trial. The waves are beating against
my ship, and I think I'm going down, and He ceased to love me."
What? Jesus Christ is a fair-weather
friend? That He loves you when it's sunny
and the skies are blue, and you can dance in your slippers, and
you're on dry land, and your clothes are dry, and you're all
warm and fuzzy? He loves you then, but let the
storm come, and He ceases to care? Who's your faith in? What do you know of the Christ
of God? He's not a fair-weather friend. No siree, brothers and sisters,
He's not. He loved these disciples when
they were on dry land. He loved them now in the midst
of this storm, and He loved them when the storm was over. And
He's loving them in heaven. John chapter 13 and verse 1.
Can anybody quote that? Let me start it to see if you
can finish it. Having loved his own which were in the world. Can somebody finish that? What's that? How long? To the end? He said that after
they got through this storm, you know. He loved them until
the end. There's that everlasting love.
And if He loved you yesterday, He loves you today. And if He
loves you today, He'll love you tomorrow. Where is your faith? I had this friend of mine who
used to go to church. And he's always making this point. You'd better be careful. You'd
better be careful. You'd better really be careful.
Well, I believe in being careful. God helped us to be careful.
But he said you'd better be careful. God quit loving you. God quit
loving you. You better keep yourself in that
love. That's the way he interpreted that verse. God quit loving you. I never said much to him. You
can't talk to some people. But his boy, his boy, his teenage
boy got himself in a mess. A shameful mess. Brought shame
on the church, brought shame on his family, shame on himself,
shame on his profession of God. I mean, he fell big time. And
you know what that dad told me and some other people? His dad
went to help him, to help him out of his mess, to welcome him
back home. And you know what his dad said? You just don't
quit loving your children. I thought, well, well, well.
Isn't that something? You believe that you don't quit
loving yours, but God may quit loving His? What kind of a Christ
do you believe in? Where is your faith? Who is it
in? I bet you these disciples were
ashamed of themselves when they come to more grace and knowledge
of the Lord and Savior, don't you? Don't you care? Don't you? I admire the Apostle Paul. I
admire him. I tell you, when the Lord converted
him on the Damascus Road and made himself known to him, he
never got over the love of Christ. And he never doubted it. He loved
me and gave himself for me. That's what he learned. He learned
what David learned. He's done something for me. He
gave himself for me. And you remember what he said?
He said, I am persuaded. I'm convinced that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things
to come, or life, or death, or any other creature, shall be
able to separate us from the love of God that's in Christ
Jesus the Lord. Dear soul, if you're here this
morning and you don't believe that about Jesus Christ, then
my question to you is the same question He put to these dear
ignorant disciples at this time. Who's your faith in? Who's your
faith in? If your faith in me, then you
need to get to know me better. I'm not like you're thinking
me to be. Consider this, and I'm closing.
Where is your faith? Is it in my power? They said
there in Luke 8, verse 25, when the Lord had stilled the raging
of the sea, what manner of man is this? that even the winds
and the sea obey him." You know why they were so amazed? Now,
really, this is the truth. This is the only way I can interpret
it. They didn't believe he could
do that. They didn't believe he could do that. Why else would
they be amazed? I mean, when they went to him and said, Lord,
don't you care that we're perishing? I don't know what they wanted
him to do about it. If they perished, he would perish.
What did they want him to do? They want him to get up and roll
with them? I don't know what he wanted to do. But I tell you
what, he'd amaze them when he did what he did. And he'd amaze
them because they had no idea he had authority over nature. That nature is his little creature.
Nature is a little puppy dog. And he says, lay down. Don't
even wiggle your tail. And that was a great call. And
they said, my word. We thought we knew Him. We don't
know Him at all. What manner of man is this? We
misjudged Him. We misjudged His care for us.
We misjudged His power, His authority. What manner of man is this? The children of Israel, they
always complain. They always complain. My judgment
is passed over from my God, and my way is hid from Him. I'm out
here on this path, and I'm a pilgrim, and the Lord don't know where
I'm at. He don't know the way that I've taken, and I'm scared
to death. And the Lord appeared to him.
He said, I wish you'd quit saying that. That's when he told him,
lift up your eye on high. Who's created these things that
brings out their host by number? He said, is there any searching
of my understanding? I made these things and I uphold
them by my power. I know how to keep all these
things in course, and you're telling me I don't know your
ways? You're telling me I don't have the knowledge of how to
keep you and deliver you? I don't have that kind of power?
Where's your faith in me? Where's your faith in me? He
knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation. We go along
and we're scared to death because we think we don't know. The Lord
don't know. He don't know where we're at.
If He knows where we're at, He don't have the power of understanding
and wisdom to deliver us. That's one thing that gave Job
so much comfort in his great trial. Right in the middle of
it, he finally said one day, he knows the way that I do. And when he has tried me, I shall
come forth as gold. He knows. Brothers and sisters,
he knows. He has the power of wisdom and
understanding. Believe him. Ascribe that to
him. He knows how to deliver you.
I've learned more in my storms than I ever learned in the calm.
Haven't you? Consider this. This is closing.
I promise this is closing. This is so important. I said
at the beginning, the Lord only spoke twice, but really he spoke
three times. He spoke once before they left
on their voyage across that sea. And this is what he said. Let
us pass over unto the other side. That's what he said. You know,
I've got a sneaky hunch that they didn't hear that. And that
was their whole problem. They may have heard something
like this, let us go out on the sea. And therefore, when they got
out there, because they didn't hear properly, take heed how
you hear, they got in this mess in their minds. If they had heard,
let us pass over to the other side. That's why he asked them,
where's your faith? Where's your faith in my word?
We get in these storms, brothers and sisters, and we say, Oh,
Lord, please hear me. Oh, please awake for me and deliver
me from this storm. And you know what he does? He
lets us ride the storm for a while until we remember what he's already
said. He's out not to speak again until
he brings us to remember what he's already told us. What's he told us? You got on
some stormy seas that you think you're not going to get through?
You don't think you're going to make it? Don't you remember what He's
already told you? All things work together for good to them
who love God, to them who are the called according to Him.
Have you forgotten that? Yes. What's happened, see, and
what we do sometimes, and we pay for this too. We read chapters
instead of sentences. We read books instead of reading
phrases. And we let other people tell
us these blessed truths, and we don't get them in our own
hearts. You better stop and get these things in your heart. Where
is your faith in my Word? If you don't go home and confirm
these things and pray to God to put these things in your heart,
I assure you, you'll be sorely tried when you hit some of your
trials. And you'll be like these apostles.
You'll be filled with fear and with dread until you go back
to His Word and find out what He said to you. I don't know how many times I've
had to remember. Romans chapter 8 verse 29 and 30, those He predestinated,
He glorified. Are you justified this morning?
Are you justified by the blood of Christ? Are you in Christ
this morning? Then here's what He says to you.
Get this in your heart. I have predestinated you. And
I have justified you. And I will glorify you. Get that
in your heart. And when the storm comes, however
it affects you, you will not say this, I'll never get through
this. I'll perish. I'll perish. You'll
never say that. As sure as God is true, you'll
never say that. I told you about the story of
old John Jasper, the black slave. He went around boasting in the
Lord. He was filled with assurance. His master would send him off
to work in the fields. He would preach every opportunity
he got. And every time, almost he preached. Oh, he preached
with such assurance. I am a heaven-bound man. I am
a heaven-bound man. Glory to God, he says, I am a
heaven-bound man. And somebody asked him one day,
he said, Brother Jasper, you are always full of assurance.
What if you get to heaven and the Lord turns you away? After you've boasted and all
this is shared, what are you going to do then? He said, one
thing about it, if he turns me away, I'll lose my soul. But
he said, if I lose my soul after I put all my trust in him, I'll
lose my soul, but he'll lose more than I do. He'll lose his
glory. He'll lose his glory. Because
everybody that trusts in him, Everybody that believes that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, he's bound for heaven. And God Himself will make sure
His own honor is at stake. Let us pass over to the other
side. And if He's brought you out of
Satan's kingdom, and He's put you in the Lord Jesus Christ,
brothers and sisters, heaven is your home. And you shall land
someday safely on heaven's coast. God bless this message. Let's
pray.